Monday, December 6, 2010

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure

Daniel gets to shake the snow off the tree because he's got a hood.Lucky him!

Tackling the tree with the saw.

Dragging the tree back to the truck.

Daniel's a little snowy after getting dumped off the sledbeing pulled by the 4-wheeler. Lucky for himhe's got a roaring fire to warm up by!

Leah and her Aunt Brenda, who knows how to throwa great party and is a chef and baker extraordinaire!

Daniel modeling the latest in Christmas string light headwear.

So fashionable!

Christmas tree lighting engineer with trusty sidekick, Theodore.

YAY! The lights are on and we get to do the fun part:

Decorate!

The final result.

Doesn't it look pretty?

Leah cuddled up in a chair, reading by the light of the Christmas tree.

No presents under it yet, but Daniel aims to fix that ASAP!

We don't have an artificial tree or buy one from a local Christmas tree lot. No, we're hardy Wisconsinites and so we venture forth to the frozen tundra to go and cut down our own.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a cabin in the middle of nowhere about an hour northeast of our home. It really is in the middle of nowhere! There's a very rough road leading back to the cabin in the woods but it's looong and extremely rough. Without our truck's high clearance and four wheel drive, we'd never make it back in there and out again.

We head over after lunch and bring some yummy food to share. Even though they're off the grid, they have a generator to supply electricity so my cheesy queso dip stays piping hot in the little crock pot! There's always lots of great food to eat: chili, hot dogs, soups, cheesy dip and chips, Christmas cookies and this year Brenda baked the most fabulous lemon poppyseed cake ever! She gave me her secret recipe but sadly (for you), I'm not allowed to share.

The whole idea is to get together with family and friends, find your perfect Christmas tree in the Christmas tree forest that Tony planted years ago, hang out around the blazing fire, go for a ride in the sleds pulled behind the 4-wheeler if you're feeling daring and eat good food, drink hot drinks and spend a few hours reminiscing, laughing and having a great time. It's a win/win all the way around.

Getting the tree is the easy part compared to the next job: putting it up, adding the lights and then decorating it. Normally I do not mind putting the lights on the tree but for some crazy reason yesterday two lines of lights failed on the tree after they'd been tested and lit up perfectly before all my hard work. Sigh. I guess if that's my biggest problem then I don't really have much to whine about, do I?

Once the lights were finally on to my satisfaction, after dinner we cranked up the Christmas music and everyone went to work decorating the tree. It was so much fun and I think it just may be our prettiest tree yet. For a change of pace, we put the tree in the library this year. It will twinkle and shine in the corner windows for all to see (not that anyone can see it but us, we're in the country with a long driveway) but hey, we'll enjoy it when we're outside at night, right?

Happy Christmas to you and may your own Christmas tree adventures be filled with fun and joy!

Hi,Love your pretty tree! It was fun seeing the rest of your home all decorated up for Christmas, wish mine were done, and most importantly, wish mine were clean enough to take pictures of!

I saw you took in a game at Target Field, glad I missed that one (and a lot of others this year too!) I never was a big Childress fan, but I did have to feel sorry for him, and also his wife, to have the whole dome chanting to be fired.

Enjoy this beautiful season! We have 14 inches of the most beautiful snow ever. I love it!Kate

It all looks so homey and cozy! Would love to be cuddled up with a book, too, right now. As for that lemon poppyseed cake, if you can't share the recipe, maybe you can share a photo of it when you get to bake one? My cottage is set back in the mountains and the road that leads to it is rough and long, too! But, it's worth it!!Thanks! for visiting and following!! It's appreciated!!!